Work With Us
Standing in a bookstore in New York's JFK Airport last November, I picked up Crush It!, Gary Vaynerchuk's personal-branding bible.
I'll admit it: I judged this book by its black-and-green cover (as well as its tagline, "Cash In On Your Passion"), and I skipped straight to the chapter entitled "The Best Marketing Strategy Ever." But by the time my flight landed in Vancouver, I had an appreciation for Vaynerchuck.
Throughout, his message is simple: be passionate about what you do, and publish content about what you know. But as someone who makes websites for a living, the most important takeaway for me was one mentioned only in passing: "Make sure you have a big fat button on your site that says, "Want to Do Business with Me?"
The Call-to-Action
Passion is the key to making your blog successful, but making your blog a monetary success is a whole other story. For starters, you have to let people know that you're open for business – that's where call-to-action buttons like "Hire Me," "Work With Us," or "Get In Touch" come in. As you can see here, Vaynerchuk's own website offers a perfect example of this.
The Conversion Page
This is where your call-to-action needs to send people in order to capture their contact information. But a conversion page is more than just a simple email form: it has to be marketing-driven, conveying value, credibility, and relevance. Again, Vaynerchuk's site is a good example: the service and value messages are front and centre, credibility builders like media mentions are listed on the right, and even the contact form features a nice green button that screams "click me."
The CRM
If you're not already, you should be using Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software to track contacts and leads. (Take it from me: I used Excel spreadsheets for years!). Popular CRMs like SalesForce and Highrise will automatically import the data collected in your online contact form and notify you via email at the same time.
While Vaynerchuk's motivational schtick may not be for everybody, his advice on online marketing and social media are relevant to anyone with a website. And his theories about passion, simplicity, and big green buttons certainly make me want to do business with him – or at least, to click and find out more.
P.S. In case you were wondering what the Best Marketing Strategy Ever is, click here.
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